Auburn Legend Pat Dye Slams Condi: 'All She Knows About Football Is What Somebody Told Her'

Former Auburn coach and legend Pat Dye slammed former Stanford provost and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s imminent selection to the College Football Playoff’s selection committee, saying Rice cannot understand football because she has not played with her “hand in the dirt.”

“All she knows about football is what somebody told her,” Dye said, according to Al.com. “Or what she read in a book, or what she saw on television. To understand football, you’ve got to play with your hand in the dirt.”

He then continued by saying, “I love Condoleezza Rice and she’s probably a good statesman and all of that but how in the hell does she know what it’s like out there when you can’t get your breath and it’s 110 degrees and the coach asks you to go some more?”

Rice has said her dream job is to be the commissioner of the NFL. She has been touted as Stanford’s secret weapon on the recruiting trail and coaches from Jim Harbaugh, Tyrone Willingham and David Shaw have all praised her football acumen. Shaw has also said he and Rice have diagrammed plays together that would enable Stanford to exploit mismatches. Seven years ago, there were also reports that indicated Rice could join the upper management of the San Francisco 49ers after George W. Bush left the White House.

Dye’s comments come two days after ESPN analyst David Pollack said he believed women should not be on the selection committee. Both failed to take note that many journalists who currently vote in college football polls also have not played football or never played the game at the highest levels.

Rice is a Birmingham, Alabama native and attended the game at Alabama between the Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers in 2011.